Finance (Covid-19 and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021
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Business Resumption Support Scheme | ||
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5. The Act of 1997 is amended— | ||
(a) by the insertion of the following section after section 485: | ||
“Business Resumption Support Scheme | ||
485A. (1) In this section— | ||
‘application period’ means the period commencing on 1 September 2021 and ending on 30 November 2021; | ||
‘approved body of persons’ has the same meaning as in section 235; | ||
‘chargeable period’ has the same meaning as in section 321(2); | ||
‘charity’ has the same meaning as in section 208; | ||
‘partnership trade’ has the same meaning as in section 1007; | ||
‘precedent partner’, in relation to a partnership and a partnership trade, has the same meaning as in section 1007; | ||
‘relevant business activity’ means, subject to subsection (2), a trade carried on by a person either solely or in partnership; | ||
‘specified period’ means the period commencing on 1 September 2020 and ending on 31 August 2021; | ||
‘tax’ means income tax or corporation tax; | ||
‘tax reference number’ has the same meaning as in section 885; | ||
‘trade’ means a trade any profits or gains arising from which is chargeable to tax under Case I of Schedule D. | ||
(2) (a) Where a charity carries on a trade, the profits or gains arising from which would be chargeable to tax under Case I of Schedule D but for section 208(2)(b), that trade shall be regarded as a relevant business activity for the purposes of this section. | ||
(b) Where an approved body of persons carries on a trade, the profits or gains arising from which would be chargeable to tax under Case I of Schedule D but for section 235(2), that trade shall be regarded as a relevant business activity for the purposes of this section. | ||
(3) (a) In this section— | ||
‘average weekly turnover from the established relevant business activity’ means— | ||
(i) in the case of an established relevant business activity commenced before 26 December 2019, the average weekly turnover of the person, carrying on the activity, in respect of the established relevant business activity for the period— | ||
(I) commencing on 1 January 2019 or, if later, the date on which the person commenced the relevant business activity, and | ||
(II) ending on 31 December 2019, | ||
and | ||
(ii) in the case of an established relevant business activity commenced on or after 26 December 2019, the average weekly turnover of the person, carrying on the activity, in respect of the established relevant business activity for the period— | ||
(I) commencing on the date on which the person commenced the relevant business activity, and | ||
(II) ending on 15 March 2020; | ||
‘average weekly turnover from the new relevant business activity’ means the average weekly turnover of the person, carrying on the activity, in respect of the new relevant business activity in the period commencing on the date on which the person commenced the relevant business activity and ending on 31 August 2020; | ||
‘established relevant business activity’ means, in relation to a person, a relevant business activity commenced by that person before 10 March 2020; | ||
‘new relevant business activity’ means, in relation to a person, a relevant business activity commenced by that person on or after 10 March 2020 and before 26 August 2020; | ||
‘reference turnover amount’ means— | ||
(i) where a person carries on an established relevant business activity, an amount determined by the formula— | ||
A x B | ||
where— | ||
A is the average weekly turnover from the established relevant business activity, and | ||
B is 52, | ||
or | ||
(ii) where a person carries on a new relevant business activity, an amount determined by the formula— | ||
A x B | ||
where— | ||
A is the average weekly turnover from the new relevant business activity, and | ||
B is 52; | ||
‘turnover amount for the specified period’ means, in relation to a relevant business activity, the turnover of the person carrying on the activity, in respect of the relevant business activity, in the specified period. | ||
(b) Subject to subsection (4), this section shall apply to a person who— | ||
(i) carries on a relevant business activity in relation to which the turnover amount for the specified period is an amount that is 25 per cent (or less) of the reference turnover amount, and | ||
(ii) satisfies the conditions specified in subsection (4), | ||
(hereafter referred to in this section as a ‘qualifying person’). | ||
(4) The conditions referred to in subsection (3)(b)(ii) are that— | ||
(a) the person has logged on to the online system of the Revenue Commissioners (in this section referred to as ‘ROS’) and applied on ROS to be registered as a person to whom this section applies and as part of that registration provides such particulars as the Revenue Commissioners consider necessary and appropriate for the purposes of registration and which particulars shall include those specified in subsection (10), | ||
(b) the person completes an electronic claim form on ROS containing such particulars as the Revenue Commissioners consider necessary and appropriate for the purposes of determining the claim and which particulars shall include those specified in subsection (10), | ||
(c) the person makes a declaration to the Revenue Commissioners through ROS that the person satisfies the conditions in this section to be regarded as a qualifying person, | ||
(d) the person has complied with any obligations that apply to that person in respect of the registration for, and furnishing of returns relating to, tax, within the meaning of section 2 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 , | ||
(e) the person is throughout the application period eligible for a tax clearance certificate, within the meaning of section 1095, to be issued to the person, | ||
(f) at the commencement of the application period, the person— | ||
(i) is, in the course of carrying on a relevant business activity, making supplies of goods or services to customers of the relevant business activity, and | ||
(ii) intends to continue to make such supplies, | ||
and | ||
(g) the person is not entitled to make a claim under section 485 in respect of any week in which 1 September 2021 falls. | ||
(5) Subject to subsection (7), a qualifying person may make a claim under this section and shall be entitled to an amount equal to the lower of— | ||
(a) 3 times the amount determined by the formula— | ||
(A x 10 per cent) + (B x 5 per cent) | ||
where— | ||
A is the lower of €20,000 and the AWT, | ||
B is the amount of the AWT, if any, in excess of €20,000, and | ||
AWT is the amount of the person’s average weekly turnover from the established relevant business activity or average weekly turnover from the new relevant business activity, as the case may be, | ||
and | ||
(b) €15,000, | ||
and any amount payable under this section is referred to in this section as an ‘advance credit for trading expenses’. | ||
(6) A claim made under this section in respect of an advance credit for trading expenses shall, subject to subsection (19)(c), be made within the application period. | ||
(7) (a) Where a relevant business activity in respect of which a person is a qualifying person is carried on as a partnership trade, then any claim made under this section for an advance credit for trading expenses in respect of the relevant business activity shall be made by the precedent partner on behalf of the partnership and each of the partners in that partnership and the maximum amount of any such claim made in respect of the relevant business activity shall not exceed the lower of the amounts specified in subsection (5)(a) or (b), as the case may be. | ||
(b) Where a claim is made under this section by a precedent partner for an advance credit for trading expenses in respect of a relevant business activity carried on as a partnership trade then— | ||
(i) for the purposes of subsections (11) and (12), each partner shall be deemed to have claimed, in respect of that partner’s several trade (within the meaning of section 1008), a portion of the advance credit for trading expenses calculated as— | ||
A x B | ||
where— | ||
A is the advance credit for trading expenses claimed by the precedent partner, and | ||
B is the partnership percentage on 1 September 2021, | ||
(ii) the precedent partner shall, in respect of such claim, provide a statement to each partner in the partnership containing the following particulars— | ||
(I) the partnership name and its business address, | ||
(II) the amount of advance credit for trading expenses claimed by the precedent partner on behalf of the partnership and each partner, | ||
(III) the profit percentage for each partner, and | ||
(IV) the portion of the advance credit for trading expenses allocated to each partner, | ||
(iii) for the purposes of subsection (13), references to a person making a claim shall be taken as references to the precedent partner making the claim on behalf of the partnership and each of its partners, and | ||
(iv) for the purposes of subsection (14), section 1077E shall apply as if references to a person were references to each partner and the references to a claim were a reference to a claim deemed to have been made by each partner under subparagraph (i). | ||
(8) Any reference to ‘turnover’ in this section means any amount recognised as turnover in a particular period of time in accordance with the correct rules of commercial accounting, except for any amount recognised as turnover in that particular period of time due to a change in accounting policy. | ||
(9) Where a person makes a claim for an advance credit for trading expenses under this section, in computing the amount of the profits or gains of the trade, to which the relevant business activity relates, for the chargeable period in which the claim is made, the amount of any disbursement or expense which is allowable as a deduction, having regard to section 81, shall be reduced by the amount of the advance credit for trading expenses and the advance credit for trading expenses shall not otherwise be taken into account in computing the amount of the profits or gains of the trade for that chargeable period. | ||
(10) (a) The particulars referred to in paragraphs (a) and (b) of subsection (4) are those particulars the Revenue Commissioners consider necessary and appropriate for the purposes of determining a claim made under this section, including— | ||
(i) in relation to a qualifying person— | ||
(I) name, | ||
(II) address, including Eircode, and | ||
(III) tax reference number, | ||
and | ||
(ii) in relation to a relevant business activity— | ||
(I) the name under which the relevant business activity is carried on, | ||
(II) a description of the relevant business activity, | ||
(III) the business address, including Eircode, | ||
(IV) where the relevant business activity was commenced before 26 December 2019, the turnover of the qualifying person in respect of the relevant business activity in the period commencing on 1 January 2019 or, if later, the date on which the person commenced the relevant business activity, and ending on 31 December 2019, | ||
(V) where the relevant business activity was commenced on or after 26 December 2019 and before 10 March 2020, the date of commencement of the activity and the turnover of the qualifying person in respect of the relevant business activity in the period beginning on the date of commencement and ending on 15 March 2020, | ||
(VI) where a relevant business activity is a new relevant business activity, the date of commencement of the activity and the turnover of the qualifying person in respect of the new relevant business activity in the period beginning on the date of commencement and ending on 31 August 2020, | ||
(VII) the average weekly turnover in respect of an established relevant business activity or a new relevant business activity, for the period referred to in clause (IV), (V) or (VI), as the case may be, | ||
(VIII) in respect of tax, within the meaning of section 2 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 , for the taxable periods comprised within the period referred to in clause (IV), (V) or (VI), as the case may be, the amount of tax that became due in accordance with section 76(1)(a)(i) of that Act, | ||
(IX) such other total income excluding the relevant business turnover in respect of the total tax returned in respect of section 76 (1)(a)(i) of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 , for the taxable periods comprised within the period referred to in clause (IV), (V) or (VI), as the case may be, | ||
(X) the turnover of the qualifying person in respect of the relevant business activity in the specified period, | ||
(XI) the percentage reduction in turnover of the qualifying person in respect of the relevant business activity in the specified period, as compared with the reference turnover amount, and | ||
(XII) such other particulars, as the Revenue Commissioners may require. | ||
(b) Subsequent to receiving the information requested under this section, the Revenue Commissioners may seek further particulars or evidence for the purposes of determining the claim. | ||
(11) Where a company makes a claim under this section and it subsequently transpires that the claim was not one permitted by this section to be made, and the company has not repaid the amount as required by subsection (13)(a)(II)— | ||
(a) the company shall be charged to tax under Case IV of Schedule D for the chargeable period in which the claim is made, on an amount equal to 4 times so much of the amount under this section as was not so permitted to be made, and | ||
(b) an amount chargeable to tax under this subsection shall be treated as income against which no loss, deficit, credit, expense or allowance may be set off, and shall not form part of the income of a company for the purposes of calculating a surcharge under section 440. | ||
(12) (a) Where a person other than a company to which subsection (11) applies (in this subsection referred to as a ‘relevant person’) makes a claim under this section and it subsequently transpires that the claim was not one permitted by this section to be made, and the relevant person has not repaid the amount as required by subsection (13)(a)(II), the relevant person shall be deemed to have received an amount of income equal to 5 times so much of the amount under this section as was not so permitted to be made (referred to in this subsection as the ‘unauthorised amount’). | ||
(b) The unauthorised amount shall, notwithstanding any other provision of the Tax Acts, be deemed to be an amount of income arising on the day the claim is made that is chargeable to income tax under Case IV of Schedule D. | ||
(c) Where the taxable income of a relevant person includes an amount pursuant to paragraph (b), the part of the taxable income equal to that amount shall be chargeable to income tax at the standard rate in force at the time of the payment of the advance credit for trading expenses but, where the relevant person is an individual, shall not— | ||
(i) form part of the reckonable earnings chargeable to an amount of Pay Related Social Insurance Contributions under the Social Welfare Acts, and | ||
(ii) be an amount on which a levy or charge is required, by or under Part 18D. | ||
(d) Notwithstanding section 458 or any other provision of the Tax Acts, in calculating the tax payable (within the meaning of Part 41A) on the unauthorised amount under this subsection, there shall be allowed no deduction, relief, tax credit or reduction in tax. | ||
(e) In applying section 188 or Chapter 2A of Part 15, no account shall be taken of any income deemed to arise under this subsection or any income tax payable on that income. | ||
(13) (a) Where, subsequent to a person making a claim under this section, it transpires that— | ||
(i) the requirements in subsection (3)(b) are not met (and a claim in respect of which those requirements are not met is referred to hereafter in this subsection as an ‘invalid claim’), or | ||
(ii) the amount claimed exceeds the amount the person is entitled to claim under this section (and a claim to which this subparagraph applies is referred to hereafter in this subsection as an ‘overclaim’), | ||
then the person shall, without unreasonable delay— | ||
(I) notify the Revenue Commissioners of the invalid claim or overclaim, as the case may be, and | ||
(II) repay to the Revenue Commissioners— | ||
(A) in respect of an invalid claim, the amount paid in respect of that claim, and | ||
(B) in respect of an overclaim, the amount by which the amount paid in respect of that claim exceeds the amount the person is entitled to claim (hereafter referred to in this section as the ‘excess amount’). | ||
(b) Where a person makes a claim under this section and it subsequently transpires that the claim is an invalid claim or an overclaim, as the case may be— | ||
(i) then, subject to subparagraph (ii), the amount of the advance credit for trading expenses paid by the Revenue Commissioners in respect of the invalid claim, or the amount of the advance credit for trading expenses overpaid by the Revenue Commissioners in respect of an overclaim, as the case may be, shall carry interest as determined in accordance with section 1080(2)(c) as if a reference to the date when the tax became due and payable were a reference to the date the amount was paid by the Revenue Commissioners, and | ||
(ii) where the invalid claim or overclaim, as the case may be, was made neither deliberately nor carelessly (within the meaning of section 1077E) and the person complies with the requirements of paragraph (a)(II), the amount repaid to the Revenue Commissioners in respect of the invalid claim or overclaim, as the case may be, shall carry interest as determined in accordance with section 1080(2)(c) as if a reference to the date when the tax became due and payable were a reference to the date paragraph (a) is complied with. | ||
(c) Paragraph (b) shall apply to tax payable on unauthorised amounts under subsections (11) and (12) as it applies to overpayments arising on invalid claims or overclaims. | ||
(14) Any claim made under this section shall be deemed for the purposes of section 1077E to be a claim in connection with a credit and, for the purposes of determining an amount in accordance with subsection (11) or (12) of that section, a reference to an amount of tax that would have been payable for the relevant periods by the person concerned shall be read as if it were a reference to a claim under this section made in connection with subsection (5). | ||
(15) A person shall, without prejudice to any other penalty to which the person may be liable, be guilty of an offence under this section if the person— | ||
(a) knowingly or wilfully delivers any incorrect return or statement, or knowingly or wilfully furnishes any incorrect information, in connection with the operation of this section or the eligibility for the advance credit for trading expenses in relation to any person, or | ||
(b) knowingly aids, abets, assists, incites or induces another person to make or deliver knowingly or wilfully any incorrect return or statement, or knowingly or wilfully furnish any incorrect information in connection with the operation of this section or the eligibility for the advance credit for trading expenses in relation to any person, | ||
and the provisions of subsections (3) to (10) of section 1078, and section 1079, shall, with any necessary modifications, apply for the purposes of this subsection as they apply for the purposes of offences in relation to tax within the meaning of section 1078. | ||
(16) The administration of this section shall be under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners and section 849 shall apply for this purpose with any necessary modifications as it applies in relation to tax within the meaning of that section. | ||
(17) The Revenue Commissioners shall prepare and publish guidelines with respect to matters that are considered by them to be matters to which regard shall be had in determining whether the turnover of a person in respect of a relevant business activity in the specified period does not exceed an amount that is 25 per cent (or less) of the reference turnover amount. | ||
(18) Notwithstanding any obligations imposed on the Revenue Commissioners under section 851A or any other enactment in relation to the confidentiality of taxpayer information (within the meaning of that section), the details referred to in clauses (I) and (III) of subsection (10)(a)(ii) shall, for all persons to whom an advance credit for trading expenses has been paid by the Revenue Commissioners under this section, be published on the website of the Revenue Commissioners. | ||
(19) (a) Where a Revenue officer determines that a person is not a qualifying person, the Revenue officer shall notify the person in writing accordingly. | ||
(b) A person aggrieved by a determination under paragraph (a) may appeal the determination to the Appeal Commissioners, in accordance with section 949I, within the period of 30 days after the date on the notice of the determination. | ||
(c) Where the Appeal Commissioners determine that a person is a qualifying person, the person may make a claim under this section no later than 12 weeks from the date that determination is issued. | ||
(d) The reference to the Tax Acts in paragraph (a) of the definition of ‘Acts’ in section 949A shall be read as including a reference to this section.”, | ||
and | ||
(b) in Schedule 29, in column 1, by the insertion of “section 485A”. |